Aim to give Dunedin people a voice

The Dunedin Area Residents’ Association (Dara) was incorporated in December, held a special general meeting in March to elect a committee and held its annual meeting on Friday.

‘‘For us, it’s exciting,’’ Dara chairman Jon Visser said.

The aim of Dara was to represent residents of greater Dunedin, and give them a collective voice to raise concerns with local bodies, he said.

‘‘It’s not just urban; it’s the whole area. A huge proportion of Dunedin people live outside the city and often say they don’t feel they are being considered.’’

Residents, not ratepayers, were the target group for Dara, as ratepayers included businesses and absentee landlords.

Key areas of concern for Dara were local bodies’ priorities, performance and politics - however, the association was apolitical, Mr Visser said.

Among priorities was questioning whether the council was ‘‘doing the right thing on major projects’.

‘‘Then performance: are they doing it right? The word accountability comes in here.’’

On politics the question was whether Dunedin city and Otago regional councillors were the right people to represent Dunedin residents.

However, Dara was not about campaigning to get rid of people, he said.

‘‘We’re certainly not waving torches and pitchforks. We’re much better off working with what we’ve got rather than the unknown.

‘‘Our focus is how to get the best out of [existing councillors] and help them be better. Therefore, we get better decisions and everyone benefits.’’

Mr Visser described himself as an ‘‘old-school public servant’’ who had been trained to do his best for the community he served.

Residents he had spoken to were concerned they were not being heard or listened to, he said.

‘‘The sheer number of people with common interest and concerns about local authority in general .. .is what has led to the formation of Dara.’’

Reviewing councillors’ performances would enable voters to make better-informed decisions on who to support.

However, it was not Dara’s job to take sides, as its role was simply to look at and present facts to members, he said.

Asked about the possibility of fielding its own candidates in local elections, Mr Visser said: ‘‘In the very, very long-term, it may be that we do but we’re nowhere near that.’’

Mr Visser made a presentation at the meeting outlining Dara’s progress to date.

People were asked to fill in membership forms and pay an ‘‘affordable’’ subscription.

Advantages of Dara 

Long history of citizens’ associations